Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Land Protected for Jaguar Habitat

(Arizona & New Mexico)

A major victory has been achieved on behalf of the American jaguar. A new proposal from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has the potential to save the animal by affording the endangered species necessary protection.

Under this new agreement from the FWS, 838,232 acres of land (approximately the size of Rhode Island) in southern New Mexico and Arizona will be set aside as protected land to allow the animals to step back and away from the brink of extinction.

The land, which is considered by many to be a “critical habitat” for the large cat species, has been an area of growing concern for conservationists over the years. As the jaguars have been pushed further and further away and into an area that is only a fraction of the size its original territory, it was almost certain that current populations would not be able to keep up and remain sustainable.

“Jaguars once roamed across the United States, from California to Louisiana, but have been virtually extinct here since the 1950s,” explained Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).